Edmund Schilvold: Skribent, fotograf, filosof, friluftsentusiast – Aktuelle kommentarer, essays, arrangementer og prosjekter. Platon!

”Øyne som kan se” – et kurs i Gode Bilder (Rogaland)

Ønsker du deg et fotokurs som handler mer om gode bilder enn om den siste teknologien? Som gir deg tips til hvordan du kan oppdage motiver, utnytte det naturlige lyset og forbedre komposisjonene dine? Da kan kanskje dette kurset over en enkelt dag, ute i naturen og de store landskapene i Rogaland, være noe for…

Dagens vedvarende tanke / Today’s persistent thought

20 March 2024: Like most other people, I have made many mistakes, been entranced by many a popular misconception, and been stiff-necked in my naiveté and ignorance at times, but, unlike many of the incarnated beings of this present Age, I will be able to say, when I meet my Pilot Face to Face (as…

Et nytt platonsk akademi for en ny og vanskelig tid

Av Edmund Schilvold (M.Th.) Oktober 2023 Kan antikkens platonske akademi, som i århundrer spilte en sentral rolle i det gamle Hellas’ og i Europas kulturelle og religiøse liv, men som på 500-tallet ble tvangsnedlagt av den østromerske keiseren, gjenopplives i vår tid, her i det høye nord? Det er et spørsmål jeg har stilt meg…

Åpent brev om vindkraft: «Gi dere selv en gave denne våren! Folkevalgte i Bjerkreim»

Kopi av min tredje mail om vindkraft til politikerne i Bjerkreim kommune (en av de største og naturmessig flotteste kommunene i Rogaland fylke), sendt 9. mars 2023. For tidligere åpne brev til Bjerkreim kommunestyre, se her. Kjære politikere og folkevalgte og andre i Bjerkreim kommune dette måtte angå, Noen av dere vil huske at jeg…

Plato was no «totalitarian», and the «Republic» is primarily an allegory

This article on Plato’s «Republic», by the very insightful Prof. John Ubersax, makes a point which cannot be repeated frequently enough, considering how often Plato’s greatest dialogue is misunderstood and misconstrued, even by scholars, namely that the Politeia (the ancient Greek title of this work) is in fact an extended metaphor, dealing with the life…

The misconstrual of Plato’s Republic, that St. Augustine quotes Socrates, and other discoveries

Below are some examples of what my master’s thesis in theology and philosophy (which you may download for free, as a PDF, by clicking on this link) achieves in terms of research and discoveries: 1. Introduction: St. Augustine of Hippo (the famous church father) quotes directly from Plato’s Republic (arguably one of the greatest literary…

Master’s thesis «follow-up»: A new and ground-breaking analysis of the Socratic and Platonic concept of the Good (free 24-page essay/e-book)

For the first time since 2020, I am now publishing a major literary production of mine here, on this blog — an essay-like academic paper exclusively devoted to a comprehensive analysis of and certain musings regarding what one might style the ontological nature of Plato’s Good, which, as I believe I have come very close…

Vi lanserer en ny norsk nettavis — Rettferdighet.net

Ja, det stemmer: Vi, dvs. undertegnede og visse andre, har fått nok av å sitte og se på det som foregår, og er i skrivende stund i ferd med å starte det vi på sikt håper kan bli en ny elektronisk avis. Begeret er fullt, og lanseringen av en totalt unødvendig kampanje for «vaksinering» av…

Hvorfor den planlagte gigant-utbyggingen på Jørnsåsen ved Holmsbu vil ødelegge sørvestre Hurum

Høringsuttalelse til Nye Asker kommune, med kopi til Fylkesmannen La meg innlede denne høringsuttalelsen til planene for Jørnsåsen med en personlig skildring av Holmsbu og landskapet omkring Holmsbu som jeg skrev forsommeren 2016, da jeg og min familie leide en hytte på søndre del av Holmsåsen, som er åsen umiddelbart nord for Holmsbu sentrum. Denne…

Christmas Musings on the Origin and Future of True Christianity

Was Plato, by virtue of supernatural insight, or some other paranormal power, a “Christian” nearly four centuries before the Incarnation of the Word? That is what some, when confronted with the exceptionally lofty doctrines of Platonism, and the great similarity between some of them and Christianity, have claimed. I do not entirely reject that as…

Ny vei fra Holmsbu til Rødtangen vil føre til mer skade enn gagn – med mindre trasévalget er gjennomtenkt!

Den gamle ideen om ny vei fra Holmsbu-området til Rødtangen på sørvestre Hurum er nylig igjen blitt gjenstand for omfattende diskusjon og debatt, denne gangen på grunn av Nye Asker kommunes forslag om utbygging på Rødtangen. På bakgrunn av dette legger jeg nå ut på nett den konsise ”konsekvensutredningen” jeg skrev og sendte til Hurum…

Utvalgte landskapsbilder i sort-hvitt

Er du på utkikk etter en julegave eller bursdagsgave utenom det vanlige? Eller ønsker du å pynte opp en av veggene i hjemmet ditt, eller på arbeidsplassen din? Et vakkert og interessant fotografi, printet ut i stor størrelse, og kanskje rammet inn med en passende ramme, kan gjøre en kjempeforskjell når det gjelder hvordan et…

A Brief Critique of Religious Empiricism, Logical Positivism, Materialistic Monism and the Anti-Supernaturalism of “N. T. Wright”

Undertaken with the Aid of the Theologia Germanica and Sir A. J. Ayer’s Language, Truth and Logic. Or: Countering the Attempt to Entrap the Human Mind in a Verbal Matrix This paper owes its origin to a three-day “home exam” I sat for in November 2018, as part of the master’s program in theology I…

Visions of the Suprarational: A Study of the Concept of Nous in the Works of Plato and St. Augustine of Hippo

My recently completed master’s thesis, which one could say is the culmination of more than ten years of research into the nature of Platonism and Christianity, mysticism and religion, as well as of a very long personal, spiritual journey, is now available for download as an e-book/PDF-file. This is the longest and most significant literary…

A prayer to a new, or rather relatively new-found god; the One True God (a new Platonic Hymn)

By Edmund Schilvold November 8, 2025 God of Greatness, God of Goodness, God of Beauty, God of Beautiful Veracity, And of Solemn Truths as well, God of Radiance and Rays of Overflowing Kindness, God not of Cruelty and Nastiness, Nor of Craftiness and Guile, But God of Overwhelming Splendor and Magnificence, Infinitely Patient, and infinitely…

In Memoriam: Sindre Steinkopf (1991–2022), philosopher, theologian, Nietzschean, idealist

Please note: The brief eulogy below was composed by me, Edmund Schilvold, in 2025, in an attempt to honor the memory of Sindre Steinkopf, my dear friend for roughly four years, i.e. from August 2015 and into 2019, when we lost contact, partly due to difficult circumstances beyond our control. It does not do full…

The Collapse of an Ancient Civilization – an Eyewitness Account (?)

Video presentations and documentaries dealing with the decline and fall of various civilizations and societies of the distant past have been garnering surprisingly large numbers of views on platforms like YouTube for some time now. I say surprising because history has often been viewed by the general populace as an eminently boring topic, and because…

Are you ready to unplug from the Matrix?

Dear all, I would like to make an announcement which I hope and believe some of you will welcome: I am going to start offering coaching and counselling to anyone who is interested in such services, anywhere in the world, via the Internet – insofar as I have the time and the energy for it….

On Extroversion and Introversion as fundamental tendencies shaping human history

On Extroversion and Introversion as fundamental tendencies shaping human history and the underlying reason for the perennial conflicts between Rationalism and Empiricism, Nominalism and Realism, Gnosis and Scripture, etc. (Excerpts from Carl Jung’s highly insightful work on Psychological Types, Part One): The following quotes are from the initial part of this extensive work, the part…

My response to Jessica L Scott (Israelite origins, the Saraswati river, «watchers», etc.)

Posting a copy of my latest response to Jessica L Scott here, since I think it contains some important clarifications: Thank you for your response, Jessica. I am glad to see that you were not offended by what I said, and that we seem to be on more or the less same page when it…

Les tilbakemeldinger fra kursdeltagere

«Jeg hadde tre lærerike og hyggelige dager på Jeløya, og ble positivt overrasket over kurset.»

Håkon Haugan, Nøtterøy

Why in the world is Google consistently hiding relevant content on Archive.org from its users?

To Google, the famous Search Engine and Internet Empire, it is as if the Internet Archive, the biggest collection of digitized books and other digitized documents in the world, simply does not exist — or, to put it more precisely, Google is pretending not to know about Archive.org, the world’s biggest library, overflowing with all…

Letter of Recommendation from Mihran Rovelli, an Italian friend of mine

Arch. Mihran Rovelli Via Guanella 922100 ComoItaly Como, 20 august 2014 Professional reccomendation letter about Mr. Edmund Schilvold Dear Sirs, I write you to inform you about my experience with Edmund Schilvold. I met Edmund during a university course we were both attending in Sydney, Australia. Since when we became friends, we realised to share…

Plato’s famous crucified Just Man – the real inspiration underlying the Christian crucifixion narrative (as we now have it), or a supernatural Socratic–Platonic prophesy?

Plato’s famous crucified Just Man – the real inspiration underlying the Christian crucifixion narrative (as we now have it), or a supernatural Socratic–Platonic prophesy predicting the fate of Jesus, the Righteous Notzri/Nazarene? (Easter; Resurrection Day) Below is the famous passage, in Allan Bloom’s literal translation (digitized by the undersigned), as well as the fascinating context:…

Reflections on the “Historicity” of Jesus Christ (Part One, Palm Sunday)

It is probably one of the most important questions a historian of the “West” can ask – due to the implications of whatever the truth of the matter is –, yet one of the most difficult to solve conclusively: Did the Jesus (Greek: Iesous) of the Christian gospels, or someone more or less like him,…

Jesus (Christ), the «Nootz(e)ri» or «Nazarene» – who was he, what did he stand for, and how did he die?

Jesus (Christ), the «Nootz(e)ri» or «Nazarene» – who was he, what did he (really) stand for, and how did he die? Original title of this article: Exploring the potential meanings of Notzri / Notzeri and ha-Notzri / ha/Notzeri by consulting with Madame Helena Blavatsky – a sincere admirer of Christ (Easter; Maundy Thursday) In the…

The Recurring Synchronicities of Numbers

After the post in December dealing with Plutarch’s reflections on the nature(s) of Good and Evil, I thought I would inaugurate the New Year on a somewhat lighter note — and yes, I am starting my New Year now, after twenty days of Christmas and seven of a dreadful influenza. That note consists in numbers,…

Et lite utvalg tilbakemeldinger fra året 2010 (wow 🥹)

Imagine suddenly being called up by an 82 year old woman whom you have never spoken to before, and told by that woman that «I am so happy that you exist». Well, that happened to me today. She has read my book on the island of Jeloy, and a few days ago, she read a letter to…

Håndskrevet brev fra leser av Jeløy-boken 🤗

Sendt 8. november 2010 Ingvild Berntsen 0591 Oslo Kjære Edmund Schilvold For en tid siden fikk jeg din vakre Jeløy-bok i gave. Jeg så på bildene (så nydelige), og ville lese teksten noe senere … Nå har ”senere” kommet, og jeg takker deg så inderlig for dine nydelige skildringer av Jeløy-naturen. Jeg er født og…

”Det er i motbakkene at det går oppover” – et tilbud om livshjelp og coaching

Er du på et vanskelig sted i livet? Eller synes du bare at tilværelsen er utfordrende? Føler du behov for å snakke med noen som kan hjelpe deg å rydde opp i tankene dine, eller som kan gi deg et nytt og bedre perspektiv på livet? Jeg er utdannet teolog/filosof, har skrevet flere bøker og…